- Jun 7, 2004
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I thought it was obvious from my post that I wasn't entirely serious. Apparently not. My main/underlying point was that he's visibly been becoming more and more frustrated with being asked a mixture of stupid questions, tactical questions that no manager would give a straight answer to, obvious questions that are there to fill column space and provocative/malicious questions about issues outside his personal responsibility and designed to create false scandal. I wasn't seriously suggesting that he should walk out, just that it would be nice if someone called these idiots and shit-stirrers out for a change.The irony of you purporting the idea of walking out of press conferences and being ridiculously unprofessional and rude to journalists, who are only trying to do their jobs, and then accusing other fans of being "chronically paranoid". Incredible stuff.
Once again, it's irrelevant how inane or malicious you think the questions are - it's his job to answer them as he sees fit - and if he decides to do so in the manner he has been displaying lately, then he will be judged on that. He's there to represent the club. There isn't a manager in the world who tries to pull the same "You know me I cannot answer this" job as Poch does for every single question.
As an example, during recent press conferences and the pre-season tour, he saw fit to be rude to and refuse to answer questions from Spurs Community's very own Ally Gold - a club-sanctioned journo for a local publication, who is well-respected, highly professional and never asks a question for the sake of it or to try and generate a headline. Poch refused to answer questions from him ranging from transfers, to player selection, even to basic tactics. He even answered the question of "Do you think Lamela will be an important player at the start of the season given his strong performances in pre-season" with a completely childish snap back at Alasdair.
I know you'll simply hit the Disagree or Dislike button and refuse to concede anything because that's what you do, but no, David, it is not "about time" someone acted so unprofessionally and downright rudely to journalists, especially not to ones sent there by the club!
Without fail, every time he gets testy at journalists, Spurs fans start a whole woe-is-me thing about divisions between Pochettino and Levy and the former's intention of leaving for a richer club unless we start buying mega-buck players wholesale. It's been obvious for the past two years at least that his friendly manner with the press was wearing off. But fans keep concluding that it's a sign of some deeper dissatisfaction with Tottenham.
If I were to guess, I'd say that he was naive enough 5+ years ago to think that, if he was open and warm with journalists, he'd get treated differently than other, less charming managers. As he's progressively discovered that they don't give a fuck, as long as they get their latest "Eriksen to Real Madrid" or "Alderweireld frozen out, rift with Pochettino" story, his manner has worn off and he is revealing his contempt.
I'm sure Ally is a lovely person - he's been on here for even longer than I have - but he asks the exact same inane questions as every other journalist, occasionally with a more subtle one added due to his extra knowledge about Spurs.
The Lamela question falls squarely into the category of "obvious questions that are there to fill column space". If I were Pochettino, I really would just sit there silently for a minute and then ask "has anyone got an intelligent question?" But I'm not him. He gets irritated and rambles instead.
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